Dr. Percepied, whose loud voice and bushy eyebrows enabled
him to play to his heart's content the part of 'double-dealer,' a part to
which he was not, otherwise, adapted, without in the least degree
compromising his unassailable and quite unmerited reputation of being a
kind-hearted old curmudgeon, could make the Cure and everyone else laugh
until they cried by saying in a harsh voice: "What d'ye say to this, now?
It seems that she plays music with her friend, Mile. Vinteuil. That
surprises you, does it? Oh, I know nothing, nothing at all. It was Papa
Vinteuil who told me all about it yesterday. After all, she has every
right to be fond of music, that girl. I should never dream of thwarting
the artistic vocation of a child; nor Vinteuil either, it seems. And then
he plays music too, with his daughter's friend. Why, gracious heavens, it
must be a regular musical box, that house out there! What are you laughing
at? I say they've been playing too much music, those people. I met Papa
Vinteuil the other day, by the cemetery. It was all he could do to keep on
his feet."
Anyone who, like ourselves, had seen M.
Pages:
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284